proverb · Words worth keeping
Barley straw's good fodder when the cow gives water.
Barley straw's good fodder when the cow gives water.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying calls barley straw good fodder when the cow gives water. It connects a judgment of feed with an unusual description of the animal’s output.
What the words are saying
When makes the praise conditional, but gives water is not explained. A responsible reading does not invent a diagnosis, a milk-quality claim or the practical reason for the contrast. The verse can show how an apparently useful rule depends on a condition that a later reader may not fully understand. Actual care needs more than the abbreviated wording.
Everyday example
A reader records the unexplained condition rather than turning the verse into an instruction for feeding an animal.
When to use it
Use it to examine a conditional fodder claim with an uncertain consequence.
What it does not mean
The source does not establish what gives water means or verify livestock guidance.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 74 · Barley straw
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English